☎️ How to communicate clearly, Focus on feelings not metrics, ...
I listen to 10 hours of podcasts a week, so you don’t have to.
This is the 53rd edition of Best Business Podcasts, featuring The Knowledge Project, Lenny’s Podcast, and My First Million.
What you need to know
🏔️ Solve one problem, create another
❤️ Focus on feelings not metrics
☎️ How to communicate clearly
🏔️ Solve one problem, create another
🥉 Third place (3 min read vs 54 mins listening)
Difficult decisions often require trade offs. Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, proposes a provocative approach: knowingly creating new problems to solve existing ones. Complex challenges like climate change could be solved by bold strategies like geoengineering. Nathan argues the reward of solving climate change outweighs the potential consequences.
What they say
Knowingly create problems
Geoengineering is a possible solution to climate change. A concern with this is we’ll just trade one problem for another.
That’s okay. Look at all of human history. Around the turn of the century, our big cities like New York and London were drowning in horse shit. It was this giant problem.
Then the automobile came along. It sounds funny but the automobile fixed an ecological problem.
But it has lots of other problems. It has a pollution problem. Automobiles also kill a lot of people.
So yeah, there will probably be some consequences to geoengineering. But you should only avoid geoengineering if it’s going to be an unmitigated disaster.
Nathan Myhrvold
What I say
Why it matters: No solution is perfect. Get comfortable with the fact that your actions may create new challenges. If you accept this, you can make bolder decisions, build momentum, and drive meaningful change.
For example, electric vehicles help to address the pollution from traditional cars but they create new challenges in battery production and disposal. By facing these trade-offs head-on, we can accelerate progress and refine our solutions over time.
If Elon Musk was paralyzed by the potential challenges caused by electric cars, our world would look very different. We often overestimate the likelihood of risks occurring and the impact they may have. In most cases, action is better than no action.
Between the lines: This reminds me of problem restatements. DHH and Jason Fried argue that problems are interchangeable, similar to solutions. The same way you have different ways of tackling a problem, you can choose different problems to achieve your end goal.
In the case of climate change, there are a multitude of problems to address, from manufacturing and transportation to agriculture and real estate. Some problems are significantly easier to solve than others, but may still get you 80% of the way there.
So what can you do today? Reassess the problems you’re prioritizing and ask yourself:
What other problems will get me most of the way to achieving my goal?
Do they require less energy, time, or cost to solve compared to the current problem I’m tackling?
❤️ Focus on feelings not metrics
🥈 Second place (3 min read vs 1 hour 28 mins listening)
In our data-driven world, it's easy to get caught up in the numbers game. But what if the secret to success relies on customer emotions, not data? Josh Miller, founder of the Browser Company, shares how prioritizing feelings over metrics can lead to remarkable outcomes and deeper connections with the people we serve.
What they say
Optimize for feelings
Silicon Valley has this obsession with graphs and metrics. Numbers are a fantastic way to be honest with yourself about whether or not you are achieving what you aim to do.
We found that optimizing for metrics leaves a lot on the table. What we do at the Browser Company is optimize for feelings.
Whatever we're doing - a specific project, feature, or piece of storytelling content - we ask what is the feeling we are trying to evoke?
What do you think Walt Disney was optimizing for when he was crafting Disneyland?
What do you think Phil Knight was thinking about when he made that first version of the Nike running shoe?
At the moment of creation, we think it's much more important for us to think about the person at the other end and how we want to make them feel.
Josh Miller
Facebook example
When I was at Facebook I joined in the midst of Snapchat's ascendancy. There were a lot of questions like how are we doing and should we be worried?
We managed this by asking ‘How many times per week do people share on Facebook?’
I think we should have been asking ‘Do we think people feel closer to their friends and family?’
I think that's what Snapchat got so right. They weren't obsessing about sharing, they were thinking about something much more human.
Josh Miller
What I say
Why it matters: Most people make decisions based on feelings, not logic. The products you know and love purposefully evoke an emotional response so you give them your time, money, or both. Here are four of the best emotions you can target to get customers to act:
Fear. We’re hardwired to take action if we feel threatened or have FOMO.
Curiosity. We want to fill in the blanks, feel in the know, and learn more.
Pleasure. We want to enjoy life, whether it be food, fun, or sex.
Pride. We all have egos - play into our desire for status, success, and attractiveness.
Between the lines: Where to begin? An actionable step you can take is to learn about the Kano Model, which helps you to identify and prioritize features based on customer satisfaction and emotional impact.
With that said, it’s important to note that optimizing for feelings should not be done at the expense of monitoring metrics and data. Striking a balance between these two aspects is crucial to stay grounded and make informed decisions.
☎️ How to communicate clearly
🥇 First place (3 min read vs 21 mins listening)
Get to the point. In many cases, the longer you waffle on the less likely you’ll get what you want. Shaan Puri learned a lot from Emmett Shear, co-founder and recent CEO of Twitch, including two frameworks to help you transform your interactions at work.
What they say
4 types of communication
On my first day I go up to Emmett’s office and have my first one-on-one with him. I start with what I'm working on and he stops me.
He's like 'Hey, what's your question?' I'm like 'What do you mean? I'm giving you the context'.
He goes 'I think this will help' and he gave me an instruction manual of how to work with him. It said there are 4 things you're going to tell me.
(1) I'm doing this FYI. (2) I'm doing this but I want your approval. (3) I'm trying to decide between A and B - can you help me think this through? (4) Remember that thing we agreed on? Here's what happened.
Shaan Puri
What, why, so what framework
I wrote an update. Emmett took a pen and drew circles around certain points.
He said 'Here's how I want you to write this: What? Why? So what?
You tell me what happened, why it happened, and so what are we going to do about it?
Or if we're planning something, what are we going to do, why are we going to do it, and so what do you need from me in order to make that happen?
That tightened up my communication. It took away so much wasted energy of trying to sit down with a blank piece of paper and figure out how I'm going to communicate something.
Now, I sit down and I write what, why, so what and then I fill in the details underneath.
Shaan Puri
What I say
Why it matters: Being direct eliminates ambiguity. I’m a big proponent of saying it how it is and working through problems openly and collaboratively. Emmett’s frameworks help you do this. They help you cut the crap and spend your valuable time focusing on the things that matter.
Between the lines: What do you do when you first get on a treadmill? You walk. Then you slowly pick up the pace and get into your stride. The same happens at work. Whenever you start a new project, it takes time to get into the zone and make progress.
That’s why every company needs a set of document templates. It helps people avoid writers block and start running much quicker. There are only a few types of documents that people write again and again. Give your team a productivity boost by creating templates for:
Project kick offs
Project retrospectives
Standup notes
Meeting notes
One on ones
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Emmett’s what, why, so what framework has 3 headings. Oftentimes, the best frameworks are the simplest.
Shoutouts
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Note, these quotes were pulled at different points of the episode. Some sentences were left out to make the narrative more concise. I am not associated or affiliated with any podcast (unless otherwise stated). All roundups are independently written and do not imply any sponsorship or endorsement by the podcast.